Page 13 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

Chapter 2: The Servant’s Preparation

Connect…

In the introductory chapter of the book of Nehemiah, it is found that Nehemiah treasured servanthood. Rules
of biblical interpretation teach us to look for repeated words and phrases to determine what the biblical writers
were trying to emphasize. Nehemiah uses the word “servant” forty-five times and five times in chapter one.
The story of Nehemiah begins by portraying the attitude of God's servant, Nehemiah.

The New Testament tells us in Philippians 2 that we also have a servant's attitude. It reminds us that, as
Jesus Christ came to our planet to serve us, we are also called to have a similar mind. Often, people think of
leaders as people who tell others what to do. But in reality, God’s leaders are his greatest servants. Today, we
will discover that central to leadership is a servant’s heart. Let’s begin….

The Lesson ...

Nehemiah 1:1-11

A Biblical examination of leadership will reveal that “The term leader is mentioned only six times in the King
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James Version of the Bible, while the term servant is mentioned more than nine hundred times.” “The
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Revised Standard Version of the Bible lists over 1,300 references to a servant.” Because servant leadership is
emphasized to this extent, I feel compelled to examine this leadership style in greater depth in the appendix of
this syllabus. (See Appendix I) Robert Greenleaf wrote extensively on the subject of Servant Leadership, and he
said, “The First and most important choice a leader makes is the choice to serve, without which one’s capacity
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to lead is severely limited.”

Duane Elmer has authored a book that is used on many college campuses, which is called Cross-Cultural
Servanthood. He writes that “we are never more like Jesus than when we serve others… However, he warns
that you can’t serve someone you do not understand. If you try to serve people without understanding them,
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you are more likely to be perceived as a benevolent oppressor.” Without first understanding the culture, we
tend to approach servanthood with an arrogant attitude. We begin to serve from our own concept of what
servanthood is, and without even realizing it, our servanthood is perceived as having an attitude of superiority,
paternalism, and neocolonialism. Elmer tells us that superiority appears in disguises that pretend to be virtues –
Virtues such as

• I need to correct their error (meaning I have superior knowledge, a corner on truth)
• My education has equipped me to know what is best for you (so let me do most of the talking while you
do most of the listening and changing)
• I am here to help you (so do as I say)
• I can be your spiritual mentor (so I am your role model)
• Let me disciple you, equip you, train you (often perceived as “let me make you into a clone of myself)

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We must always remember that “superiority cloaked in the desire to serve is still superiority.” “Servanthood is
revealed in simple, everyday events. But it’s complex because servanthood is culturally defined – that is, serving
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must be sensitive to the cultural landscape while remaining true to the scripture.” While teaching at
Ambassador International University, I experienced a major cultural challenge that interrupted my desire to be
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